ANTI-AHMADIYA PROTESTS IN DHAKA FIZZLE OUT

UNCLAS DHAKA 003888 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL BG SUBJECT: ANTI-AHMADIYA PROTESTS IN DHAKA FIZZLE OUT ¶1. SUMMARY. A new wave of anti-Ahmadiya protests in Dhaka fizzled out when attempts by the extremist Khatme Nabuwat Andolan Bangladesh (KNAB) movement to take over an Ahmadiya mosque were thwarted by police. The quick police reaction diffused a potentially violent situation with minimal violence, generating praise for the Home Ministry from the Ahmadiyas and civil society organizations. Follow-on threats by the KNAB to shut down Uttara and seize the airport failed to materialize. END SUMMARY. ¶2. KNAB leader Noor Hossain Nurani announced plans to take over the Ashkona Ahmadiya Mosque in the Uttara neighborhood in Dhaka to draw attention to his group's demand that the parliament declare the Ahmadiyas "non-Muslim" by June 29. According to the Ahmadiya Muslim Jamaat (AMJ),the principle Ahmadiya organization in Bangladesh, Nurani began assembling supporters at five mosques and madrassas around Uttara on June 21 with the intention of seizing Ashkona on June 23. ¶3. Alarmed Ahmadiya community leaders asked the Prime Minister's office to provide police protection and prevent the seizure of the mosque complex. Twenty-two Ahmadiya families living in Uttara also appealed to the BDG for protection, and the AMJ launched a widespread information campaign designed to rally support. Several civil society and non-governmental organizations expressed support for the Ahmadiyas and announced they would assist in protecting the mosque. ¶4. According to Ahmadiya and police sources, on the morning of June 23 approximately 1,500 to 2,000 KNAB marchers, many wielding long bamboo sticks, gathered for a rally in Uttara where Nurani reiterated the group's main demands. He then led a march towards the Ashkona mosque. The police deployed over 3,000 police in the Uttara area to prevent violence and cordon off the Ahmadiya complex. After coming up against police barricades, Nurani and his followers marched into the middle of the main access road to Dhaka-Zia International Airport to hold afternoon prayers. When they tried to block traffic, damaging two vehicles, the police dispersed them using batons. Some ten to 20 people were injured in the melee. ¶5. Following the KNAB's failure to take the mosque Nurani announced a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Uttara for June 25 and 26 and added the demand that the Bangladeshi parliament pass a law declaring Mohammad the "last prophet." Journalists informed us that although traffic to the airport was light on the morning of June 25, the hartal never materialized. Police broke up the main KNAB pro-hartal procession as it tried to march through Uttara, injuring Nurani in the process. There were no signs of hartals or protestors on June 26. ¶6. From his hospital bed Nurani vowed to continue his movement, declaring a "siege" of Zia International Airport on the morning of June 29. The police told us ahead of time that there was "no way" they would permit the group to shut down the airport or access road. No protestors showed up for the airport siege, and Nurani later cancelled it. He announced a new siege of Ahmadiya facilities in the Noddapara neighborhood of Dhaka for July 4. ¶7. In summing up the events of the week, Ahmad Tabshir, the main AMJ spokesperson, told us that although the Ahmadiya community was initially alarmed by this latest offensive against them they were "very happy" with the actions of the government. "If the government continues to take such actions, the zealots will be discouraged from further actions against us," Tabshir told us. Regarding the police, Tabshir commended them for keeping the protestors away from Ahmadiya installations. ¶8. COMMENT. The failure of the KNAB protests demonstrates a lack of popular support for these types of anti-Ahmadiya actions. The major political parties do not take the demands of the KNAB seriously, and there is no significant support for anti-Ahmadiya legislation in parliament. Given the poor turnout and strong police deterrent role at this week's KNAB-organized program, it is highly unlikely that the protest on July 4 will be any more successful. Furthermore, the Home Ministry and police deserve credit for protecting the Ahmadiya facilities and dispersing the protestors. END COMMENT. BUTENIS